The increased portability of medical equipment, such as imaging devices, enables use of such equipment in a wider variety of situations and applications. For example, in emergency medical situations in the field, portable imaging devices are extremely useful. However, with an increase in portability, certain challenges arise relating to the management and use of such equipment, including power management challenges, data management challenges, wireless communication configuration challenges and storage challenges.
With regard to power management, portable imaging devices are typically battery-powered and, for practical purposes, are generally outfitted with a rechargeable battery. Due to the high power requirements of such devices, charging has to be conducted with regularity. Therefore, a user must remember to routinely connect the device to another power source to charge the batteries and maintain the device in an operable state. Monitoring power levels then becomes one challenge for a user of a portable imaging device.
With regard to data management, portable medical devices, such as portable imaging devices, generate large amounts of data. In a conventional imaging device, the data generated is typically transferred, via a wired connection, to a host computer system for processing and storage. By comparison, without a dedicated wired connection to a host computer, data transfer from a portable imaging device can present a challenge, especially when the data includes high-resolution images that are represented by large amounts of data and therefore are not easily transferred over a wireless connection.
With regard to wireless communication configuration, the portability of the device is typically dependent on the device being able to communicate with a host computer over a wireless connection. This communication requires that the device and the host computer share the same wireless configurations, which are routinely varied, i.e., changed or updated.
Finally, with regard to storage of the equipment when not in use, portable devices, due to their functional requirements, typically have awkward shapes and sizes. That combined with their fragile nature make them prone to damage if improperly placed or stored.
For the reasons stated above, and for other reasons stated below which will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading and understanding the present specification, there is a need in the art for improved techniques for using a portable imaging system.